


it looks as though we're running out of words to say

by winterkillz



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Amputee Tony Stark, Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Bucky Barnes & Tony Stark Friendship, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Fix-It, Fuck Canon, Post-Endgame, SteveSam are only in a short blurb in the middle! Just a heads up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:20:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25909495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterkillz/pseuds/winterkillz
Summary: The atmosphere between Tony and Bucky has changed, far from what they had in 2016. Both Bucky and Tony feel like something heavy had gotten out of their chests.OR,Bucky and Tony finally talk it out after seven years.AKAone of the battlefield reunions.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Tony Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 47





	it looks as though we're running out of words to say

**PEPPER POTTS** shoots aliens from above, hovering on top of the battlefield in her new Rescue armor. There's too many of them for her alone, and the others are busy with their own bunch to take care of. Just when Pepper thinks it’s over and she could finally join the nearest team, a surge comes towards her from the left. She focuses her repulsors on them, not noticing the Chitauri from behind who shoots at her using an alien tech staff. The blue beams hit her boots, disabling her lower armor’s ability to keep flying. 

Pepper is now struggling to fly, seemingly out of control of her rocket boots now. There’s already a swarm of Chitauri waiting for her to plummet down and it _doesn’t_ look good. “FRIDAY, check my systems! I can't–” 

Tony hears Pepper’s distress. “I’ll be right there, honey, I just need to–” He powers up his repulsors and fires at the enemies below him, knocking three at once. “FRIDAY, locate Pepper for me, will you?”

“ _Miss Potts located._ ” FRIDAY immediately updates, showing a map of the area on the screen to Tony’s left. A purple dot blinks, indicating the Rescue armor’s position. “ _She’s 300 meters away from you, boss._ ”

Pepper is _across_ the damn field and Tony’s far away with his own cluster of ugly space freaks. He could reach her in time, if only it didn’t mean he’ll bring more enemies to her– 

“ _Don’t worry, I got her._ ” 

Someone says over the intercom, and it takes Tony a few seconds to realize that it was Bucky Barnes. Bucky comes from Pepper’s right side, sprinting towards her with incredible speed, very much like Steve Rogers. Pepper sees Bucky just in time when the light on her boots start to flicker out, causing her to drop twenty feet.

Bucky grunts as he bulldozes a group of four Chitauris, his speed contributing to the force that sends the aliens flying. He halts below Pepper with a single stomp of his foot onto the ground, catching Pepper at the right moment.

Pepper flicks her helmet open, a sigh of relief escaping her lips. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Bucky nods, “Mind taking them out for me?”

Of course, a group of Chitauri starts running after them. Bucky begins to dart off, and since Pepper’s repulsors are okay, she starts targeting the enemies one by one again.

“ _I've restarted your thrusters._ ” FRIDAY confirms, thankfully. “ _I_ _t's currently at 20%._ ”

Captain America fights off more Chitauri with his mjölnir, slowly getting used to the hammer _and_ the shield simultaneously. A crackle of thunder, then lightning falls onto a stack of them. The Falcon flies by and lands beside him, shooting a nearby enemy with the help of his robo-bird assistant, Redwing. 

“So you’re Thor now?” Sam playfully asks, firing his guns at the enemies in front.

“Kinda. How long did you wait till you can say ‘on your left’ to me?” Steve jokes back, tossing the shield upwards and then hitting it with his hammer like a baseball, the shield bouncing off a few enemies before it returns to him.

Sam laughs heartily, the one where his eyes crinkle and where he bends backwards. The one that Steve missed during those long, five years. Steve couldn’t help but smile, something light amidst the dark battlefield.

“I was practicing everyday in front of a mirror.” Sam finally says, and it was Steve’s turn to chuckle.

“ _Need back-up around our area here. Whoever's available._ ” Wong requests through the intercom, cutting off the two’s conversation. They are still in the middle of a fight, after all.

Sam presses his ear piece to speak, “On it.” He nods at Steve as yet another goodbye, spreading his mechanical wings and propelling upwards.

“Sam!” Steve shouts from below.

“Yeah?”

“Glad you’re back.”

Both smile, the biggest in a while. Sam salutes at Steve, like he always does, before zooming away and towards the sorcerers’ location.

Bucky settles Pepper down on a cleared space, behind a pile of rubble. He huffs out a heavy sigh and clutches his gun with both hands. Sure, he’s got prolonged stamina but that was a _long_ run. They exchange awkward looks. They haven’t really properly met due to an unavoidable circumstance in 2016.

“Be careful next time.” Bucky speaks quietly, eyes on the gun that seems extra interesting.

Pepper shifts. “Yeah, um. Thanks again.”

Suddenly, a Chitauri with a spear sneaks behind Bucky without his knowledge. Only when it growls ravenously, lifting the spear in the air, then Bucky notices and turns around. _Shit_.

Pepper’s eyes widened. She suppresses a scream and instead points behind the man, saying “Look out!”

Bucky prepares his metal arm to use as a shield, but a shrieking repulsor sound is heard before the alien gets blasted away from them.

“Everybody good?” Tony greets as he flips his helmet up. “Pep, how’s your boots?”

“Oh god, Tony.” Pepper’s voice shakes, though she’s grateful that Tony’s here. “At 80%. I should be able to fly again soon.”

Tony jounces his head at his wife before trailing his eyes to Bucky who has his guard up instinctively. Tony sighs and gulps, as Pepper offers a smile at him. 

Bucky opens his mouth, but Tony speaks first.

“You don’t have to say anything.” Tony assures, holding a palm up. He pauses. “I mean, if you’re gonna apologize. That’s not– that’s not needed. Thank you. For taking care of Pepper back there.”

Silence. Bucky puts his weapon lower, although still uneasy. He averts his gaze from the Starks.

“I’m still sorry.”

“You shouldn’t be.” Tony says, a part of something he’s been rehearsing for a while. He couldn’t believe he’s actually saying them now. Tony wets his lips and purses them together, throwing a hand in the air. “HYDRA’s fault. Always has been.”

“I did it with my hands.”

“C’mon Qui-Gon Jinn, I’m trying to thank you here.” Tony attempts to take a step forward, but Bucky lurches backwards. Wrong move, Tony thinks, so he glances at Pepper nervously before looking back to the man. “I um, like the updo by the way. Half updo, is that the term? You did that yourself?”

Bucky is still uneasy. Wary. Things did not settle the right way between him and Tony since the fight in Siberia and here they are, making a _small talk_. He decides not to respond. Tony doesn’t blame him, _literally_.

“Look. It’s over. I’m also... I’m also sorry.” 

Tony focuses on Bucky, waiting for the other to meet his gaze.

“For blowing up your arm. You know the past few years I’ve been thinking of making you a new one in case we meet again. It seems like you got a pretty cool one already though. Wakanda tech?”

Bucky finally looks up to Tony, nodding. He smiles a little at the mention of Wakanda, and the thoughtfulness of Tony making him a new arm. Sure it hurt, the heat from the metal seeping into the flesh, but Bucky didn’t mind. He thought Tony losing both his parents at a young age because of him probably hurt more.

“It's never too late to get another one from Tony Stark.” Bucky’s voice almost cracks, his posture now completely relaxed.

Tony smiles back, something out of relief. So does Pepper. The atmosphere between Tony and Bucky has changed, far from what they had in 2016. Both Bucky and Tony feel like something heavy had gotten out of their chests. 

Something beeps from Pepper’s armor, then FRIDAY speaks. “ _Reboot complete. You’re free to fly again, boss.”_

Pepper and Tony exchange looks of ease, both turning to look at Bucky.

“I’ll.. work on that after this whole thing, alright? Stop by my house. Steve can tell you where. Let’s go kick some more alien asses first.” Tony offers his hand. 

Bucky stares at the armored hand for a while. Bucky finally walks forward and takes it, shaking it firm.

Tony brings out his signature thousand-watts smile. “Great. I’ll see you around, Barnes.”

The room is all white. It reminds Bucky of the room where he was kept in Wakanda, back when he was put under cryostasis for the last time. He looks at Tony Stark from the window and through the blinds, lifting his hand to grip the door knob before deciding against it. He tucks the brown box he’s holding under his left metal arm.

“It’s okay.” James Rhodes comes up from behind, holding a glass of water. “He’s awake. He wanted some water. You wanna give it to him?”

Bucky reaches for his nape, rubbing it sheepishly. “I don’t know if it’s a good time.” 

“We’re superheroes,” Rhodey shrugs. “There isn’t a good time for anything, really. Everything’s _terrible_.”

Bucky laughs. He agrees though, so he nods. 

Rhodey grins and passes him the glass. “Go.”, he whispers.

“Thanks, uh. Colonel?”

“Pff–” Rhodey waves a dismissing hand, burying the other in his pocket. “You know friends call me Rhodey.”

Bucky closes the door behind him, gently. Tony’s eyes are shut, opening them when he hears Bucky’s footsteps coming near. He smiles frailly. 

“I think I ordered a different James earlier.” Tony kids as Bucky sits down on the chair beside him with a snort. “How’re you, Sunsilk?”

“I’m alright,” Bucky answers, putting the box on his lap before handing Tony his water. “Here. How are you feeling?”

“Ehh,” Tony says weakly, accepting the glass. He takes a tiny sip and leans back to his propped up pillow again. “Not too bad even though I don’t look too good.”

Bucky beams at Tony, observing his condition. It’s the first time he’s seen him since the battle with Thanos. Tony took the gauntlet and was going to absorb all the power and the consequences that came with it. Fortunately, Steve grabbed him and the rest of the Avengers held hands to spread the power. Everyone took each other’s hands, and Bucky swears he can still feel the surge of energy on his palm sometimes.

Tony, however, still took damage. When he snapped, half of his body deteriorated, much like what happened to Bruce when he brought everyone back. Unlike Bruce who managed to keep his arm thanks to the gamma, the doctors had to amputate Tony’s. Tony is human under the fancy armor and technology, after all.

“You know why I feel worse?” Tony speaks again, and Bucky raises his brows. “Can’t tinker for a while. This thing’s gonna be a pain in the ass to get used to, I don’t know how _you_ did it.” He sways his right arm a bit, the empty sleeve of Tony’s hospital gown waving. “I promised to make you an arm.”

“Tony…” Bucky says softly. “It’s fine. You saved the world. I think that’s enough, at least for me.”

“I’ve been saving the world since 2008, Barnes. One thing I haven’t done yet is make an arm for a pal.” 

Bucky exhales. He holds Tony’s gaze this time, watching Tony give him a bigger smile with all the strength he’s got. Bucky stands up and carefully places the box he brought on Tony’s blanketed lap.

“Oh?” Tony blinks. “A gift?” 

“A gift.” Bucky repeats, rocking on his heel in anticipation.

Tony hums and takes another swig of water before placing it down on the side table. He stares at the container for a good minute before peeling the lid off.

A shiny, red arm lays on top of ruffled tissue paper. Its outlines are golden, the sun shining from the window reflecting on it. It’s gorgeous and intricate, something he’s never seen nor thought of before as a design. 

“I asked Shuri,” Bucky starts. Tony looks at him with his mouth slightly open. “She helped me make that happen. Pepper provided us with armor blueprints you had, and Shuri kinda mashed it all together and created this. Amazing, isn’t it?”

“Amazing is an understatement, this is… divine. Or something.” Tony says, adoration obvious in his voice. Bucky’s glad.

“You like it? I’ll make sure to thank Shuri and T’challa for you–”

“Aw shucks, I’ll thank them personally.” Tony retorts, stretching his only arm left. “I know it looks like I’m just holding my arm up but this is me asking you to hug me. C’mere.”

Bucky bashfully chuckles, walking around to go to Tony’s good side and gives him an embrace. Never in his life did he imagine this moment.

“Thank you, Bucky.” Tony mutters, rubbing Bucky’s back. It’s the first time he’s called Bucky by his nickname, and Bucky felt warm inside. “You’re a good man.”

Bucky doesn’t know what to say. Steve, Natasha, Shuri, Sam – they’ve all told him this. To this day it’s still hard to accept. Somehow, coming from Tony, he wants to _believe_. He lets Tony hug him, patting his arm gently in return. When they detach themselves, Tony wipes a stray tear from his cheek. Finally, they’ve closed a chapter of their lives that they desperately had to tuck away. They both _needed_ it.

“We should arm wrestle with this.” Tony suggests, making Bucky laugh again.

“I don’t think we can, Tony. Wrong arm.”

“Well, that’s _bullshit_.” Tony spews out, humming. “We should hold hands with our metal hands then. That works, right? Like we’re some metal arm pals?”

Bucky tilts his head and thinks. 

“Yeah. Yeah, that works.”


End file.
